Launching a scathing broadside over the arrest of Delhi law minister, AAP government today accused the Centre of creating an Emergency-like situation with its “dictatorial” actions due to crackdown on corruption in the city, particularly reopening of CNG fitness scam probe.

Calling Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar’s arrest in an alleged fake degree case as “totally unconstitutional”, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said it was an attempt by the Modi government to “teach AAP a lesson” and asserted no one involved in corruption will be spared. “Attempts are being made to create an emergency like situation in Delhi through dictatorship as we have come down hard on those involved in corruption,” said Sisodia.

Accusing the police of treating Tomar as a “mafia”, Sisodia said the police forcibly put him into a car without giving any specific reason and seized his vehicle, before bringing him to the police station. “Tomar was arrested as if he was a mafia. Was he running away? Did he set off a bomb? What was the emergency, especially when a scam is being reopened? There’s a deep underlying reason behind his arrest,” Sisodia told reporters.

Tomar was arrested earlier in the day on charges of cheating and fraud in obtaining his law degree.

The arrest of 49-year-old Tomar, MLA from Trinagar and a first time minister, comes in the midst of a running battle between the AAP government and Lt Governor Najeeb Jung over the powers of the city government. “There has been illegal attempts to create the post of a new chief of the Anti-Corruption Branch by creating an emergency like situation. They are creating such a situation in order to bring the ACB under their jurisdiction. This is unconstitutional.

“This is an attempt to teach AAP a lesson. We would not spare anyone who will come in the way of our fight against corruption. His college affidavit clearly states that he has passed his law degree,” Sisodia said.

Tomar has been accused of cheating, forgery, forgery with purpose of cheating and criminal conspiracy under various sections of IPC.

A police team had gone to Bihar on the direction of High Court to investigate charges that he had obtained a fake degree.

AAP’s Delhi convenor Ashutosh said that the arrest was a conspiracy hatched in the Union Home Ministry on the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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